THE OLD DEAD TREE returns to confront our deepest fears with unparalleled sincerity and intensity.

Tamás Kátai never dreamed that Thy Catafalque would ever go beyond the recording studio. But over the past two decades, Kátai and his frequent band of collaborators have expanded far beyond not only Hungary’s borders but also the prickly boundaries of extreme metal. With each album, they’ve brought the world’s most vile art form into further conversation with the avant garde.

The mythic viking war trance duo EIHWAR has just unleashed an intimate new music video for their single Sir Mannelig, a masterful cover of the timeless classic Herr Mannelig.

They’ve never been afraid of breaking boundaries, but with their new album, Oceans of Slumber have taken their vision for progressive metal to dark, cinematic new heights.

Eivør performs on the world’s largest stages. She has serenaded crowds at the UEFA Champions League, bowled over The Game Awards with her songs from God of War: Ragnarök, starred in the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom and opened for Heilung at a sold-out Red Rocks.

Metalheads all over the world associate Thy Catafalque with Hungary. But the project’s mastermind has a vision that extends far beyond his home country’s borders and boundaries. With an equal affinity for classical instrumentation, avant-garde experiments and the more vile dealings of death and black metal, Tamás Kátai can take you anywhere: The Great Plains, a philosophical feast, the quiet of a familiar street just before dawn, or, as Red Bull recently discovered, a Chilean mountainside.

Death metal is a punishing genre, especially when it’s of the extremely technical variety. But there’s a beauty that arises when the sworn members of its sacred crypt spring back to life as a new nocturnal creation.

The relentless storm of Swedish black metal strikes once again. MÖRK GRYNING, undeterred by the passage of time, reveals their latest single Fasornas Tid from their eponymous upcoming album. It’s a declaration of war, a journey through the tumultuous realms of the human soul.

Their identities remain hidden, but this year, Gaerea are out to prove that they’re no longer strictly a black metal band. With their upcoming new album, the Portuguese masked sensations are surfacing to the top of extreme metal. While the pensive, post-rock passages only heighten its crushing blows, the latest single off Coma is the first song in the band’s mantle-worthy discography to feature clean singing.

Norway is known for pioneering a legendary branch of extreme metal, but no band embodies the scene’s epic resolve quite like Keep of Kalessin.

In the shadows where desolation meets defiance, GAEREA beckons the daring, the pilgrims of darkness, to traverse realms marked by haunting beauty and devastating intensity. Celebrate the descent with Coma, as Gaerea announces their 2025 European tour—a symphony of anguish and transcendence.

Bordeaux’s own titans of technical death metal, EXOCRINE, are set to traverse the realms of auditory obliteration with their highly anticipated ‘Legend Tour 2025’. Prepare yourselves for a labyrinthine voyage through the uncharted territories of sonic complexity, where ferocious riffs and labyrinthine compositions converge to create an otherworldly experience.

Gaerea thrive on the purging of raw emotions, but on their upcoming fourth album, the Portuguese masked sensations prove that they’re no longer just a black metal band. With Coma, they’re surfacing to the top of extreme metal.

After fine-tuning their signature tech-slam combo for the better part of a decade, last year, Wormhole came writhing out of the Baltimore underground with their third album, Almost Human.

Eivør performs on the world’s largest stages. She has serenaded crowds at the UEFA Champions League, bowled over The Game Awards with her songs from God of War: Ragnarök, starred in the hit Netflix series The Last Kingdom and opened for Heilung at a sold-out Red Rocks.

Autarkh are locked in a state of constant evolution. After the dissolution of Dodecahedron, in 2019, frontman Michel Nienhuis assembled a new band of innovators for his blackened, electro-shocked  vision of the future on Autarkh’s debut Form in Motion. Just last year, the contemporary metal band pushed their cybernetic view on the digital age to even greater extremes.

In this era of relentless superficiality, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX stand as a beacon for those broken by an indifferent world. This latest masterpiece, Self Control, extracts the haunting essence of Branigan’s classic and weaves it into a poignant tapestry of raw emotion and relentless defiance. With the ever-captivating Belinda Kordic giving voice to our shared darkness, Justin Greaves and his band of rebels breathe new life into a song that resonates with the tortured soul of the modern age.

Already, on their debut album, HELGA weaved together a dark and enchanting assortment. Wrapped in Mist shifts from progressive, Ennio Morricone-inspired folk to abrasive black metal and booming post-rock. “Simply put, this is an incredibly strong debut from a very talented group of musicians” New Noise wrote in a 4-star review.

From the feral fjords of neo-Norse mythology, EIHWAR barrels onto the scene like a berserker storming a tranquil village. They didn’t choose the warrior’s path; it tore through their souls and left behind a sonic battleground that marries ancient gods with unapologetic modern chaos. This is Viking War Trance—a titanic clash of techno fury and primal beats, designed to send your senses careening into the stratosphere.

Returning like a phoenix from the ashes, French dark progressive metal band THE OLD DEAD TREE unveil the harbinger of the upcoming album Second Thoughts — the soul-stirring single, Unpredictable. Unpredictable delves into the chaotic maelstrom of life’s twists and turns. Musically as hauntingly beautiful as it is merciless, a mirror reflecting the unpredictable nature of existence. The morning dawns, casting light on the twisted ruins we wake up to every day. But on Unpredictable, the light is more than just the break of day; it’s a call to arms. With lyrics bleeding raw emotion and riffs that cut through the white noise of apathy, THE OLD DEAD TREE summons us to embrace the chaos that life throws our way. “No one really knows what life will bring; it’s just unpredictable,” Manuel Munoz sings with an urgency that demands you to hear the ticking clock of existence. Carrying the band’s signature weight—the amalgamation of progressive extreme music and dark rock-pop—Unpredictable captures the essence of living on the edge. It’s a powerful reminder to seize the moment, to rise against the constraints of rationality and be prepared for the unplanned, the unexpected. The haunting vocals and relentless rhythms pull you under and lift you out, breaking through the frame of what was once seen as possible.